New Quebec history course falls short on First Nations, activist says

The shortageof aboriginal issues in Quebec's new high-school history curriculum is "unacceptable," according to First Nations activists.

A draft of the pilotedcurriculumfrom last September, obtained by CBC News,containsonly a single reference to Canada's residential school system, saying they "helped accelerate the decline of indigenous languages."

The newteaching guidemisses an opportunity to address the failure of previouscurricula to educate Quebecersabout aboriginal history, saidEllen Gabriel, a longtime Mohawk activist and artist fromKanesatake.

"We've been trying to get them to change the curriculum for decades," Gabriel told CBC News.

"It's unacceptable that it's still happening today in 2016."

• New Quebec high school history course called out for lack of diversity
• Debunking the myth that Canadian schools teach enough about indigenous people

The curriculumis being piloted this year inseveral dozen schoolsin 2015-2016. A final version is expected to be rolled out across the province next year.

The two-yearcourse begins with the arrival of French settlers in the1500s, with the firstmodule examiningthe experience of aboriginal people under colonization.

Another section, from 1945 to 1980, includes a focus on the conditions on reserves and the recognition of ancestral rights.

David Birnbaum, the parliamentary assistant to Quebec's education minister, told CBC News on Thursday thatQuebec's new history curriculum will undergo more changes before it is rolled out across the province.

He said the program has already been altered since theLiberals came to power tomore accurately reflect the
history of Quebec's non-francophone and aboriginal communities.

The piloted curriculumhasalready been criticized for its lack of diversity.

TRC recommendation

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's final reportrecommended that First Nations history, and in particularly the legacy ofresidential schools, beemphasized in school curriculum across Canada.

After the report was released, Premier PhilippeCouillard told reportershe would like the history of First Nations and their contribution to the building of Canada to be taught in Quebec schools.

"We have to recognizethere was certainly an organized attempt, duringone unfortunate period, to erase the identity, culture and even the language of First Nations communities in our country,"Couillard said at the time.

The course was originally developedunder the previousParti Qubcoisgovernment, which had campaigned in 2012 on a promise toemphasizeQuebec's struggle for nationhoodin the provincial school curriculum.

Gabriel said the history of residential schools in Canada should be considered "just as important as teaching about the Holocaust and World War 2."

Robert Green, the head of WestmountHigh School's social sciences department, said the newcurriculum alsoglosses over the Oka crisis and how both Quebec and Canada dealt with the Mohawks.

"I try to give my students an accurate and critical perspective on history and that certainly won't change,but the materials I have to do that with and the official curriculum,I might have to be fighting against," he said.